Some time in 2007, zigeunerweisen sent me a bundle of Rowanspun DK after she'd found it wasn't working into a sweater she liked. I was a pretty novice knitter at that point--stashless, even!--so I didn't know what I was going to make it into. I was sure it wouldn't be enough for a full sweater for me, so I started whittling away at it with smaller projects.

This was only the second or third hat I knit, so I didn't know much about sizing to fit. I held the yarn double or triple to make it the worsted called for in the pattern, but I don't think I got row gauge. I actually really liked this hat until it somehow felted a bit and become too short to cover my ears. This pattern dates from before Ravelry, so I have no idea how I found it.

Not long after that I made Oatmeal the Bear, also with the yarn held double or triple to get worsted-ish gauge.

He still rides around in my purse lo these three and a half years later. He's traveled with us up and down the U.S. coasts (and to Pennsylvania ;)), to Ireland, England, Scotland, Canada and Mexico. His nose was a bit worse for wear for a while until I gave it a trim, but otherwise he's held up beautifully.

For over a year I was uninspired about the remaining ~400 yards of this yarn, until I had an impulse to knit myself some customized knee socks, my Lothlorien Stockings.

This was one of my longest-hibernating projects--I finished the second sock fifteen months after starting the first. I made them to fit me, but without enough experience knitting knee socks to know they probably should have been at least an inch longer, and much tighter in the cuffs (and ankle, as you can see in the photo). After an hour or two of wear, they are prone to terrible sagginess. One day I'd like to re-knit these, with more testing and maybe more reverse stockinette in the non-leaf-cable portion.

The last partial ball marinated in the stash for a while, until I decided I needed a hat to go with my Ravenclaw scarf. The "Leaves on Lazy Day" hat pattern met my yardage/gauge/leaf obsession needs. I modified the pattern a bit in my rendition so that the decreases started sooner (I thought it was too floppy as written) and completed the leaves instead of ending in the middle of the leaf pattern. I'm really happy with how this one turned out, and still wear this hat all the time two years later. (OMG, that means I've been meaning to write this post for two years. Laws, how time flies.)